A drug addict sneaked into the Derbyshire couple's home and crept around stealing their belongings while they slept.

Serial burglar Gavin Causer let himself into the village property through an unlocked door before making off with a laptop and a mobile phone.

Derby Crown Court heard that, while he was in the same village, he stole from two parked cars that had also been left unlocked, taking power tools from a Porsche Boxster and a satnav system from a Land Rover.

Causer was then captured on a police camera driving out of the area - he had no licence or insurance - and was followed to an address where the car was found abandoned and some of the goods were discovered inside.

Now the 33-year-old has been jailed for 33 months after he pleaded guilty to burglary and theft.

Jailing him, Recorder Jason Macadam said Causer was what the Government call a ‘third strike burglar’. He told him: “You have the most appalling record of 109 offences and 40 convictions and the vast majority of them have been for theft, burglary and dishonesty.